What Once Was Mine
by Trumpeteer34
Summary: *DARK!FIC* An alternate ending to Disney's Tangled, where a single decision makes all the difference between a happy ending and something worse. *Rated M*


I do not own the any of the characters; they belong to Disney's animated film "Tangled." This was written purely for fun.

**Warning: Rated M. This is a dark fic.**

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><p><strong><span>What Once Was Mine<span>**_  
><em>

_Flower, gleam and glow_

_Let the power shine_

The chilling tune floated through the air with the thin wisps of smoke coming from the single lit candle. The little flame flickered and sent shadows dancing across the floorboards. Its faint glow wasn't strong enough to pierce the darkness hugging the walls, its light barely illuminating its immediate surroundings. The lyrics echoed through the tightly closed room before dying away into the next line. Aside from the song that gently flew, the air felt heavy and dead.

_Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine…_

Mother Gothel allowed the end of the first stanza to linger in the air as the brilliant golden light began to appear. She drew a breath and continued, gently coaxing the magical sun flower's power out of hiding.

_Heal what has been hurt_

_Change the Fate's design_

The glow coursed through the length of hair, weaving and turning with the gentle waves of golden locks running across the floor. The dark haired woman's pale eyes moved with the glimmer, watching as it slowly lit up the room. The paintings scrawled on the walls seemed to stare down at her, taking a life of their own in the mystical radiance. Mother Gothel paid them no heed, as she had grown accustomed to doing these past few weeks. It was a shame; the girl had such a skill, such potential.

But that was over. Everything she had worked for these past eighteen years was undone. The obedient little girl she had raised with such a fear of the outside world had finally gathered the courage to disobey her.

Just when she thought she had fixed everything, the girl realized the truth. Everything she had worked for…destroyed. This girl…

_Save what has been lost_

Mother Gothel finally permitted herself to look down at the girl she had raised, the girl who had once called her 'mother.'

Rapunzel lay motionless on the cold, hard ground. Her hands rested against the floor just before her face, cold iron shackles circling her wrists to keep her tethered to the wall. Her knees were drawn upwards, her skirts flowing gently across the floorboards.

Her glowing hair shed some light on Rapunzel's face, though Mother Gothel could have predicted the expression she would find. The glimmering locks weren't even enough to spark some sort of semblance of life in Rapunzel's eyes or give her a touch of emotion. She lay catatonic, completely numb to the world around her.

And to think this girl had the gall to stand up to her.

_Bring back what once was mine_

Mother Gothel lifted the end of Rapunzel's long hair into her hands. The glowing strands washed over her skin, smoothing out the wrinkles that had begun to appear. She felt her youth returning to her, that younger energy she yearned for more and more with each passing day. She felt a small smile of relief cross her face as the ritual came to its completion.

Her eyes returned to Rapunzel as she sang the final lines of the incantation.

_What once was mine._

As the brilliant glow began to fade from the golden locks, Mother Gothel saw Rapunzel's eyes move ever-so-slowly in a downward motion. All of that rebellion that Rapunzel had displayed seemed like a distant memory now; she was but a shell of the young woman she had been. Just before the magical illumination faded completely, she noticed the girl's eyes appeared wet.

The glow disappeared, leaving the two in a darkness only penetrated by the faint flickering candle. The final words of the song reverberated through the dark tower and slowly faded into silence.

That is how they stayed for a lingering minute. Mother Gothel's pale eyes watched the dancing shadows upon the floorboards before she glanced back at Rapunzel, who was again mostly hidden in the dark.

The sight of her shook the woman from the afterglow of the incantation. Her mouth drew back in a frown as she took in the pitiful girl on the ground. "This ends whenever you want it to, Rapunzel," she said, her voice shattering the silence. She pretended not to notice the girl flinch at the sound of her voice, as she pretended for the past two weeks.

Rapunzel offered no answer.

Mother Gothel rolled her eyes and reached for the candle before she stood up. She wasn't sure if this perpetual silence was a part of her lingering rebellion, or if she had broken completely; she was leaning toward the latter.

The hollow footsteps echoed through the air as Mother Gothel moved about the tower. Rapunzel was soon engulfed in a shroud of darkness again, not that she would have noticed. Gothel stepped over the tufts of hair in a well-practiced fashion and made her way to the small kitchen area, where she had left her basket. She threw together a quick meal for her prisoner, sincerely hoping that she would eat more than just a few bites. During the first few days, she had tried to coax the catatonic girl to eat with some hazelnut soup. When that didn't work, Mother Gothel just about gave up. She would leave her meals within reach, hoping the girl would nourish herself while she was away. For a while, Gothel would return to find the food untouched. Lately, however, the girl had found some will to nibble on whatever Gothel would leave her, but it was never enough to sustain a person.

The girl had grown thin in the past two weeks, unhealthily skinny. Gothel had started to become panicked at the thought of the girl perishing from starvation, but that was quelled when the girl finally began to eat again. It wasn't enough to put her mind completely at ease, but it was a start.

Maybe she'd even start talking to her again…

Gothel shook her head at the foolish thought as she gathered up the meal she had made. There was absolutely no way Rapunzel would ever speak to her again for multiple reasons. As she stepped away from the kitchen toward the main area, she found the leading reason beneath the window.

The stain upon the floorboards was almost lost in the darkness, but they both knew exactly where it was, even in the murky gloom. The crimson spot had darkened with the passing of time.

'I probably ought to have cleaned that up,' Gothel mused to herself, not for the first time. Her fingers itched to go to the dirk on her waist, but her hands were full. 'Or thrown a rug over it, or something…' She stared down at the large blood stain with bored eyes.

_'Just let me heal him,' _the girl's desperate voice sounded in her head. All of those pretty little promises, all of the words she wanted to hear. _'You and I will be together…forever, just like you want…'_

Gothel's eyes narrowed on the stain before they shifted slowly over to where Rapunzel was lying in a shroud of darkness.

_'Do you take me for a fool?'_ had been her response.

Even now, she could still perfectly see the girl's face go slack and the dawning horror appear. She had started begging, _begging_ to show him mercy. She had started struggling against her chain-link binds and screaming when Gothel had tethered her to the wall.

She had started sobbing as she watched her love slowly die.

Gothel's eyes returned to the stain for a moment longer before she turned away toward Rapunzel. 'That Flynn fellow should have never interfered.' Like any good mother, Gothel had had to punish Rapunzel for her disobedience and for blatantly lying to her, to her face no less. She hadn't anticipated that Rapunzel would break completely after being forced to watch her lover's death. The girl really had been a love-sick dolt.

Well, she hadn't put up any sort of struggle since his death. She had only sobbed uncontrollably when Gothel removed his corpse from the tower. It would appear that she had learned her lesson; she wouldn't be disobeying Gothel any time soon.

As Gothel approached the blonde girl on the ground, the flickering candle shed some light on the girl's face. Her eyes were still watery.

Gothel laid the food out in front of Rapunzel, making sure it was within her reach. "Now, do try to eat something, my flower," she said, breaking the deafening silence. Rapunzel didn't flinch this time, nor did she react when Gothel gently placed her hand upon her golden head.

She cringed away when she felt Gothel's hot breath against her cheek as she whispered those terrible words into her ear again, as she did every time before taking her leave.

"Mother knows best."

As Gothel stood up and drew the hood of her cloak over her head, she heard Rapunzel crying softly to herself. The sounds echoed through the deathly still air. Gothel entered the tunnel, bringing the candle with her and leaving Rapunzel to cry softly to herself in her darkened tower.

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><p>It had been several hours into the night when she first felt a twinge. Mother Gothel startled awake, a thin layer of sweat upon her brow. She lifted a trembling hand to her forehead to wipe away the dampness. When her fingertips brushed against something that shouldn't have been there, she let out an alarmed gasp.<p>

She leapt from her bed and raced to a nearby mirror. Her horrified reflection gawked straight back at her with wide, terrified eyes. She couldn't find the will to speak as she took in the aging woman staring at her from the mirror. Thin fine lines were etched into the skin on her brow, around her mouth, and at the corners of her eyes. Black strands of hair peppered themselves throughout the grey mop atop her head, growing lighter by the minute.

Panic gripped her. "No…" she finally breathed in a tiny voice. "Rapunzel…" She darted away from the looking glass and quickly dressed herself for travel. Every few minutes, she felt an icy hand rip away some of her youth.

Her heart was pounding as she grabbed a candle and burst through the doors, focusing on getting to the tower as fast as her legs would carry her. The moonlight made the sweat on her face glisten as she ran. Each step was a little harder and a little more tiring as the youth drained from her body.

By the time she reached the clearing, she was gasping for air. Her terrified eyes shot to the tower, standing erect against the clear night sky. She only paused for a moment before she took off again. Another bit of her youth was torn from her, leaving her fumbling for her footing. She stumbled across the grassy terrain moving gently with the night breezes.

She collapsed against the entrance to the tunnel, trying in vain to catch her breath. Strands of her hair fell into her face; they were ghostly white. She brushed them away in repulsion. She tried with shaky and bony fingers to light her candle before entering. The wick finally caught the tiny flame after a few steps into the dark tunnel. She felt herself become more and more brittle with each passing step.

Up ahead, floating down the length of the tunnel, was a melodic young woman's voice. Gothel recognized the tune and felt her heart nearly stop. "Rapunzel," she tried to call up to her, but she was so breathless it only came out as a hoarse whisper.

Another icy hand grabbed at her and yanked back hard. There was hardly any youth to take from her; she felt a bit of her life grabbed away. The feeling left her lightheaded. She grasped at the base of her neck with a quaking hand as air went into her lungs in short and rapid gasps. Her pale eyes traveled to the hand laid on her check and threw her hand away from herself in disgust. Even in the poor light, she could see every bone, every joint.

She finally managed to tear her eyes away from the sickly thing attached to her arm to look at the looming staircase at the end of the tunnel. She had to hurry, she knew; there was no knowing how much longer she would even have the ability to climb stairs.

She rushed forward with all the energy her ancient being could muster.

The melody hanging in the air grew louder with each labored step she took toward the tower. The lyrics began to take form as she got closer to the source of the song. The chilling tune was terrifying enough as it was, but the singer behind the tune sent a chill through Gothel's frail body.

The girl had been completely silent for two straight weeks. The only noises Gothel had heard from her had been her sobbing and her quiet cries.

What had driven her to singing the incantation tonight?

Halfway up the cascade of spiraling stairs, Gothel came to a stop to momentarily rest her weary and weakening body. She no longer even tried to catch her breath; the gasping had become wheezing with the ascent of the steps. Her eyes rose to the steep climb that loomed before her.

She almost stopped breathing when she felt those icy phantom fingers wrap around her life essence. As more of her life was yanked away from her, Rapunzel let out a cry, but began to repeat the incantation.

Gothel clutched at her heaving chest and nearly fell to her knees. Her thin lips were pulled back in a pained grimace. After a moment, she forced herself to continue up the steps as fast as she could. "Rapunzel…" she tried to call.

Finally, she saw a faint glow up at the end of the tunnel; the dimness of the glimmer turned the blood in Gothel's veins to ice. _"No!"_ she screeched. She raced up the steps haphazardly, no longer watching her step. _"No!"_

The song continued on without hesitation.

_Heal what has been hurt_

Another cry echoed through the hall, nearly covering up the reverberations of the rhyme. Gothel crumbled to her knees against the steps, letting out a cry of her own that covered a _snap_. She lay in a shaking heap on the stone stairs, her heart pounding in her chest as well as her ears. When she tried to lift herself to her feet, a bolt of pain shot up her leg. A yelp escaped from her withering body. She glanced down at the limb in question, but she already knew it was broken. Her bones were far too brittle to withstand even the slightest of falls.

_Change the Fate's design_

Gothel looked back toward the end of the tunnel as the next line reached her ears. She watched with horror as the already dim glow grew even fainter. She clutched her candle tightly in a closed fist and began to drag herself up the last few stairs.

Sweat was dripping freely down her wrinkled face as she pulled herself into the hole leading to the main room of the tower. Gothel's eyes immediately began to study the room. They darted to the glowing hair that was spread across the floor.

She nearly stopped breathing.

The glimmering lines of golden locks were thinly interspersed in a great mop of brunette colored hair. Even as she stared, more of the glowing lines faded into a dull brown, almost appearing black in the darkness.

Another cry and another stab of pain brought Mother Gothel completely to the ground. The candle slipped from her sickeningly thin fingers and rolled on its side before coming to a stop in a groove in the floorboards.

With little else she could do, Gothel's panicked eyes found Rapunzel's face. She blanched in horror.

_Save what has been lost_

The girl was still lying on her side, but her chained hands had traveled up to the crown of her head. In a white-knuckled grip, she held bloody ends of her hair. Tears ran down her face, sometimes intermingling with the blood seeping from the open wounds all across her scalp. Clumps of her incredibly long hair lay lifelessly all around her, bits and pieces of her scalp still attached to the ends. What was left of the hair still attached to her head was glowing bright as ever.

Gothel wanted to scream, to stop her, as Rapunzel reached for the last remaining handful of glimmering blonde hair. She pushed herself up onto shaky arms and reached out toward the girl she had raised for eighteen years.

Rapunzel drew a breath and held it as her fingers tightened around the locks in her grasp. She let out a final great cry as both hair and skin tore away from her head. The last of the glowing blonde hair faded rapidly into lackluster brown, spiraling and twirling across the floorboards to their end.

Gothel let out a bloodcurdling scream as she witnessed the death of the sun flower. She thrust a quaking hand out at the fading hair, as if her outstretched arm would stop it from disappearing forever.

As the final bit of light faded, Gothel lost all strength in her body. She felt herself falling toward the ground as the last little bit of her life was taken away. Everything went dark as her head collided with the floorboards.

There was a sound like sand moving upon sand, but it was lost to Rapunzel. She didn't lift herself to see the small mound of dust and clothes in the only way out of the tower, lit by the single candle that tried to light the entire room. She released the long hair still in her grasp and laid her chained hands upon the floor. Fresh tears streamed down her face and for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, a small smile crossed her face.

_Bring back what once was mine_

Her green eyes traveled to the bloodstain below the closed off window, where she had watched her beloved Eugene die a slow and miserable death. She swallowed the sob that crept up her throat at the thought of her wonderful love, but the relieved and victorious smile never left her tear-soaked face.

The tiny flame began to die out as the wax dripped over the wick, smothering it out. Rapunzel closed her eyes and allowed her tears to fall freely. She was finally free.

The light disappeared as the flame went out.

_What once was mine…_

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><p>AN: I've only seen this movie once, but once was enough. It's not that I hate the movie; I'm just really indifferent toward it. Mother Gothel is by far my favorite aspect from the film. Aside from that, I can say it is a beautiful movie, but that's about it. It just felt a little boring to me.

And then this popped into my head. The imagery in my mind's eye made me a little queasy, to be honest; I knew I had to write it. I have never written anything this dark before. It was a fun and new experience. It's just a shame it happened first with a Disney movie.

So yes, if there are bits from this that are off from the movie, I apologize. I didn't want to sit though it again to get everything right. I rewatched certain parts, to be sure, but that's about it. I apologize if this offends you or if you are upset with what I did to the characters. I wanted something dark.

Feedback is always welcome. Thank you for reading!_  
><em>


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